Ashley Madison and Matthew 5

Posted on September 13, 2015 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

There have been many articles responding to the release of names associated with the Ashley Madison web site, a site where prospective adulterers could find connection.

Some have expressed surprise and dismay that Christian leaders have been found to have their names on the list. But I don’t think that we should be surprised. The church is not filled with people who have it all together. We know this because they let us in and we do not have it all together. Whether our failures are obvious to others or not, we all fail.

So let’s put down the stones before someone gets hurt. There is not a person alive that has not had his or her mind taken to places that it should not go. As Christians, we have to learn to “take every thought captive” and redirect the trajectory of our thoughts.

Why is this important? In Matthew 5:27-30 Jesus tells us that adultery starts long before any physical activity takes place. Adultery takes place first and foremost in the mind. Adultery begins with lust and lust is the real problem.

Rather than our condemnation, we should offer to those on the list our sympathy and prayers. Certainly, they were wrong to flirt with or commit physical adultery. But every human has crossed into territory that he or she should not go whether the thought was acted upon or not. Knowing our own hearts, and how easily our minds can be driven off course, we should have some understanding of how those on the list got there.

The problem is essentially one of idolatry. Lust takes place when we seek something that provides a distraction or what we think will be lasting satisfaction. Lust is essentially trying to meet a legitimate need by illegitimate means. Any desire for sexual fulfillment that is contrary to the prescription of Scripture is harmful and wrong.

Rather than worship God through the legitimate means of meeting a need, we worship a false god when we turn to the illegitimate. That false god can be a person or an experience.

Now that it is all in the open, the illegitimate desires can be addressed and help can be sought. Let us as a group of believers skip the condemnation and offer the needed help. A few thoughts come to mind:

We can create an environment where it is OK to be not OK. In other words, we need to develop church cultures where brokenness and failure can be admitted without shunning or other ostensibly anti-Christian behavior.
We can more accurately teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some well-meaning Christians acknowledge that salvation cannot be earned and they try to earn it anyway. They then turn around and teach others to do so. When we understand the Gospel, then we can let ourselves and others be where we currently are, knowing that God is in the process of making us better.
We can do a better job of understanding how the Gospel speaks to the issues in the culture around us. Scripture speaks to our motivations and our need for transformation.

When Hootie and the Blowfish agree with Jesus on something (John 8:7) then we should pay attention.

You without sin, pick up that stone

No man, Lord – Reflections on John 8

Posted on June 24, 2013 Written by Michael Andrzejewski 6 Comments

This is a guest post by Michael Andrzejewski who serves the Lord in Portugal and whose biographical information appears below.

With so much disdain, they shoved her down before him, the one that they called Master in public, but the Threat, in private. They hated him more than her. They hated him more than what they caught her doing.

They had just dragged her away, hastily ripping the two lovers apart from each other. From that first moment when they burst in, fear and remorse engulfed her.

Nothing made sense. She wanted to explain. What were they going to do with her lover? Why wasn’t he being taken too? She fought hard to put her thoughts in order. Where were they taking her?

Wave after wave of regret crashed down upon her fragile soul.

Still indecent and disheveled they threw her down at his feet and spat the words. At him.

Master, we caught her. We walked right in on her cheating. She’s supposed to be stoned. What do you think we should do? (John 8:4-5)

She dare not speak, but within, she begged for mercy. She longed to be forgiven. She longed to be free.

She never considered the consequences when the flirting began. She never thought about the other lives that would be ruined. All she saw was her lover’s attention.

The desire for immediate satisfaction shouted down all caution about what might happen if they were caught.

The law says that she’s got to be put to death. Judge her. Tell us what do.

Silence. Slow and deliberate. He knelt, ignoring them. He wanted to know about her. In her eyes he saw fear and pain. Sorrow. Shame.

Through the tears, she noticed him writing something in the dirt, as they insisted…

Should we stone her? Should we?

Accusers are always persistent, but Mercy is patient. Long-suffering.

Finally, he rose, looked at the mob and spoke.

He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. (John 8:7)

He was ready to answer. He was ready to give them his mind about the matter, but he asked one thing first: let all of those without sin rare back and let her have it. Then he would answer.

The leader, the oldest and wisest of the group, looked at Jesus, looked at the ground and opened his hand to let the jagged stone fall to the dust. He couldn’t. He knew that his heart was just as filthy.

The memory of our own sins should be a sufficient deterrent against judgment of others.

If it’s not, we better start remembering before we start casting stones. If it’s not, we should begin to question our understanding of grace. If it’s not, we should begin to question our understanding of forgiveness.

So, he turned and walked off. His conscience cutting far deeper than any stone possibly could.

But his conscience didn’t bring him to grace. Rather than bring him to the Lord, it stopped short.

Man’s conscience is able to convict of sin. But it’s not able to transform him into the image of Christ. Neither is it able to liberate him from the present or future power of sin. Without the conviction of the Holy Spirit, the conviction of conscience is incomplete.

The thud of rocks falling to the ground grew louder as the mob grew smaller and smaller until the last one, the youngest among them, finally let go of his anger and walked away in shame.

There she remained, alone with the man that had just saved her life. Before she could thank him, the question came.

Where did they all go? Did not at least one of them condemn you?
No man, Lord.
Neither do I. Go and sin no more. (John 8:10-11)

When there is no condemnation of sin, there is the presence of a command to live a holy life.

By mercy, the Lord spared her life. Through grace, he gave her a new one.

“Thank you, Lord for not condemning me when for so long I deserved it. Thank you, Lord for giving me a new life in You. Thank you for power to walk in that new life with You. I praise you today because I know that my life is no longer defined by sin, but by your grace and your love for me. Thank you for becoming my sin on the cross, even when you knew no sin. Let me ever remember that I have no condemnation in you. Help me to ever walk after Your Spirit. Amen.”

On the need for a heart transplant

Posted on September 3, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

The heart of stone

It would seem to me that the depravity of man should not be in question given our track record for violence, greed, selfishness and prejudice.

The problem is that as a result of the rebellion in the garden, we have been damaged. This damage affects our thoughts and emotions. As a result, we cannot respond to God properly without his grace being poured out to change us.

If you acknowledge this as true, then the functional question then becomes “what can be done about it?”

In two places in the prophetic book that bears his name, Ezekiel diagnoses our problem by telling the nation of Israel that they had hearts of stone:

“And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,” (Ezekiel 11:19, NASB)

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26, NASB)

If we are honest, we will admit that apart from the work of God in our lives, we possess hearts of stone that cannot respond properly to God or to others.

Behavior modification doesn’t work

Too much of the preaching I have heard over the years boils down to behavior modification, pray more, read more, give more, complain less . . . etc. To tell someone what to do without giving them the tools to do it is foolishness.

Real change cannot take place without the Grace of God working in us to transform our hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. Apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ being operative in my life, I have little hope for real, sustained change.

Preaching to the heart

This is why it is imperative to proclaim the gospel at every available teaching opportunity. Without the transformation that results from a relationship with Jesus Christ, change can only be external, superficial and perhaps temporary. Therefore preaching that does not first proclaim that transformation will only result in external change.

Paul tells us that we require transformation by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2). From birth, our thoughts and emotions are tainted by the rebellion in the Garden. Our minds and heart (thinking and emotions) are in need of realignment.

The call to repentance

Therefore, the beginning place of preaching needs to be a call to repentance. The call to daily repentance can be seen in Jesus’ command for us to daily take up our cross (Luke 9:23). It is only after we correctly identify the source of our struggle that we can begin to apply correction. Jesus, when he began his earthly ministry, began by saying

Until we come face-to-face with our sin and have it dealt with at the Cross, we cannot truly begin to have a heart of flesh and deepen our relationship with God.

Oh, to have a heart of flesh that is in constant communion with God. One day . . .